In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not to be taken as an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge was at the priority date (i) part of common general knowledge; or (ii) known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.
Fundamentals of Good Health and Nutrition
Nutrition is usually considered from the perspective of the relationship between food and human health. Good nutrition:                involves ensuring that all the essential nutrients are adequately supplied and utilized to optimize health and well being;        is essential to growth, reproduction and maintenance of normal body function; and        is also essential for optimal activity, resistance to infection and repair of damage or injury.        
Until recently, nutritionists have focused primarily on the nutrient elements in foods. Nutrients in foods have historically been classified into macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, water and essential elements). However, food is also composed of non-nutrient factors or phytochemicals, which are now thought to have their own beneficial effects, such as reducing the risk of cancer or heart disease.
No single substance is sufficient to maintain adequate health. For this reason, a variety of foods are needed in a diet to assist with delivery of a broad array of micronutrients, macronutrients and non-nutrient plant components (also known as phytochemicals). Some specific nutrients are known to be singly effective, eg fibre, however, most nutrients work more effectively when combined with other dietary components and the body's own chemical products, enzymes and co-factors, to enable absorption and utilization. Phytochemicals (substances found in plants) are important components of food that are likely to be essential for optimal health. The main classes of phytochemicals found in fruit and vegetables include plant sterols, flavonoids and sulfur-containing compounds. Nutritional science has begun to focus more on the role of specific foods and food phytochemicals in reducing the risk of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, arthritis and other chronic non infectious diseases such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, cancer and health problems like migraine and menopausal symptoms. Examples of phytochemicals and their postulated health benefits are as follows:                Anthocyanins/Proanthocyanidins are found in berries, cherries, red grapes, plums and red-cabbage and are thought to protect the heart, lungs and blood vessels.        Bioflavonoids (e.g., Taxifolin, Rutin, Ellagic Acid, Quercetin) are found in citrus fruits, black tea, red wine, onions, tomatoes, apples, potatoes, grapes and broad beans and are thought to be an antioxidant and have anti-cancer benefits.        Carotenoids (e.g. Lycopene, Lutein, Capsanthin) are found in carrots, mangos, peaches, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and dark leafy green vegetables and are thought to have anti-cancer benefits.        Catechins (e.g. Epigallocatechin Gallate) are found in green tea and apples and are thought to be antioxidants and have anti-cancer benefits.        Glucosinolates (e.g. Sulphoraphane Sinigrin Isothiocyanate) are found in broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale and watercress and are thought to have anti-cancer properties including the ability to reduce the growth of pre-cancerous cells.        Organosulphides (e.g. Allicin) are found in garlic, onions and leeks and are thought to help fight stomach cancer and reduce LDL cholesterol.        Phytoestrogens (e.g. Isoflavones, Lignans) are found in soy beans, flax seeds and berries and are thought to protect against breast cancer, prostate cancer and menopause symptoms        Bromelain is found in pineapples and is thought to have blood-thinning properties.        Capsaicin is found in chilies and is thought to be an antioxidant and pain-reliever.        Chlorophyll is found in wheat grass, seaweeds and dark green vegetables and is thought to have anti-cancer and antiradiation properties.        Coumarins are found in tomatoes, green peppers, strawberries and carrots and are thought to have blood-thinning benefits.        Papain is found in papaya and is thought to help relieve pain.        Resveratrol is found in red grapes and is thought to help protect against heart disease.        
US patent application no 2003198694 teaches that antioxidant compounds can be extracted from natural sugar cane and beet which can be used in the production of functional food products. The antioxidant compounds disclosed by the inventors include polyphenols and flavonoids.
Glycemic Index
The glycemic index (GI), invented in 1981 by David Jenkins and Thomas Wolever of the University of Toronto, is a new system for classifying carbohydrate-containing foods, according to how fast they raise blood-glucose levels inside the body. In simple terms, a food with a higher GI value raises blood glucose faster and is less beneficial to blood-sugar control than a food which scores lower.
The GI consists of a scale from 1 to 100, indicating the rate at which 50 grams of carbohydrate in a particular food is absorbed into the bloodstream as blood-sugar. Glucose itself is used as the main reference point and is rated 100.
The GI separates carbohydrate-containing foods into three general categories:                High Glycemic Index Foods (GI 70+) causing a rapid rise in blood-glucose levels;        Intermediate/Medium Glycemic Index Foods (GI 55-69) causing a medium rise in blood-glucose; and        Low Glycemic Index Foods (GI 54 or less) causing a slower rise in blood-sugar.        
The glycemic load (GL) ranks foods according to actual carbohydrate content and indicates how much carbohydrate is in a standard serving size of food. To calculate glycemic load in a typical serving of food, divide the GI of that food by 100 and multiply this by the useable carbohydrate content (in grams) in the serving size. For example, the glycemic index of carrots is about 47. Carrots contain about 7 grams of carbohydrate per 100 g of carrots. So, to calculate the glycemic load for a standard 50 g serving of carrots, divide 47 by 100 (0.47) and multiply by 3.5. The glycemic load of carrots is therefore 1.6. Several factors influence how fast a particular carbohydrate food raises blood sugar. These factors include: the chemical and physical structure of the carbohydrate-food in question; how refined the carbohydrate is; how the carbohydrate is cooked; and also the presence of other substances which reduce either the potency of the body's digestive enzymes, or the speed of digestion. Each of these factors is discussed further below.                Chemical structure of the carbohydrate: For example, the body processes glucose very efficiently, but the body cannot easily metabolize fructose, a common monosaccharide in fruits, which is why fructose has a low GI of 23. Ordinary table sugar (sucrose), is a disaccharide made up of one molecule of glucose linked to one of fructose. Hence the glycemic index of table sugar is 65, midway between 23 and 100 in the medium-glycemic-index range.        
                Physical structure of the carbohydrate: For example, most breads are in the high range—not due to the chemical nature of wheat starch, but for two physical reasons. (1) The fine particle size of wheat flour gives digestive enzymes great surface area to attack and metabolize the bread. (2) The surface area of bread is also increased by its puffed-out, fluffy structure. The glycemic value of bread is significantly raised by these structural attributes.        Level to which the carbohydrate is refined: One of the most important factors that determines the GI of carbohydrate foods is how refined or processed are the carbohydrates. In general, refined or processed carbohydrates have had most of their ‘natural’ fiber and other ‘inconvenient’ constituents (e.g. which may affect the food's shelf-life) removed. The carbohydrate is incapable of resisting the digestive enzymes and is rapidly metabolized into glucose.        Extent to which the carbohydrates are cooked or prepared: Pasta has a medium-GI value of 40-50. This can be further reduced by cooking it less (al dente). This is because al dente pasta resists the effect of digestive enzymes more than regular cooked pasta and so has a lower GI.        Fiber slows down metabolism and digestion of carbohydrates: Fiber (either in the carbohydrate itself or in the stomach) protects the starchy carbohydrate from rapid attack by digestive enzymes, or slows digestion in the digestive tract. Either of these consequences will slow down the conversion of the carbohydrate to glucose.        Fat and/or acid slows down metabolism and digestion of carbohydrates: The more fat or acid a carbohydrate food contains, (or the more fat or acid in the stomach during digestion) the slower the carbohydrate food is converted to glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. The presence of fat and/or acid retards the emptying of the stomach. An increase in acid can be achieved by adding vinegar or lemon juice to the diet.        
The GI of many foods has been assessed. Honey has a broad GI depending upon the type. Romanian locust honey for example has a GI of 32 whereas Canadian honey has a GI of 87. Foods containing longer chain carbohydrates-fructo-oligosaccharides such as Jerusalem artichokes have a GI of 0. Fruits also contain carbohydrates but some are low GI and some are high GI. Apples have a GI of 38 and watermelon 72.
Issues Raised by High GI Diets Include the Following.                High-glycemic-index foods trigger strong insulin responses, thereby exposing the body to all the negative effects of insulin. By comparison, low-glycemic value foods do not provoke this insulin response.        Diets containing high-glycemic-index meals, which cause rapid and strong increases in blood-sugar levels, have been linked to an increased risk for diabetes.        Over-consumption of high-glycemic-index carbohydrates may aggravate insulin resistance in patients predisposed to the condition. Insulin resistance (called Metabolic Syndrome X, or more properly, Insulin Resistance Syndrome) is believed to be a precursor of type II diabetes.        Insulin resistance is believed to be a genetic condition, aggravated by obesity. However, some experts consider that it may be the result of a separate inherited sensitivity to high-glycemic-index carbohydrates.        Lower glycemic index diets have been shown to help control type II diabetes and reduce symptoms of insulin resistance.        High-glycemic-index diets have also been linked to an increased risk for heart disease.        Over-consumption of high-glycemic-index foods has also been linked to food cravings and disordered eating patterns as a result of repeated surges and falls in blood-glucose (“sugar spikes”).        
Low GI Diets
It is now thought that individuals who are susceptible to type II diabetes and coronary heart disease should follow a low GI diet. It has also been found that following a low GI diet can assist individuals with diabetes to manage their sugar levels and it can assist individuals with obesity problems to control food cravings, reduce appetite swings and improve eating habits.
One example of an attempt to lower the GI of foods is disclosed in international patent application no WO2004/014159. The method disclosed involves administering an effective amount of flavonoids which inhibit the action of the enzymes (eg α-amylase) which break down carbohydrate in the intestine, thereby inhibiting the rate at which glucose is released into the bloodstream.
Sugar
Sugar is a common carbohydrate used in food because of its sweet taste.
After being mechanically harvested, sugar cane is transported to a mill and crushed between serrated rollers. The crushed sugar cane is then pressed to extract the raw sugar juice, while the bagasse (leftover fibrous material) is used for fuel. The raw juice is then heated to its boiling point to extract any impurities and lime and bleaching agents are added and mill mud is removed. The raw juice is further heated under vacuum to produce bulk sugar crystals and a thick syrup known as molasses. The two are separated by a centrifuge and the molasses waste stream is collected for use as a low-grade animal feedstock. The bulk sugar crystals are further refined to increase their purity.
The bulk sugar crystals from the process shown in FIG. 11 are further refined to produce the many commercially available sugar products. The bulk sugar crystals are mixed with a hot concentrated syrup to soften the outer coating on the crystals. The crystals are recovered by centrifuge and then dissolved in hot water. This sugar liquor is then further purified by carbonation or phosfloatation, filtration, decolourisation and then seeded with fine sugar crystals. Once the crystals have grown to the requisite size, the crystals are separated from the syrup by centrifuge, dried, graded and then packaged. There may be several repetitions of recovering sugar crystals from the sugar liquor. The dark sugar syrup which is left after all of the sugar crystals have been recovered is also called molasses.
Almost all of the commercially manufactured sugar is white and granulated. White graded sugar is 99.5% sucrose and is made up of crystals averaging 0.6 mm. Caster sugar has an average crystal size of 0.3 mm. Icing sugar is produced by crushing white sugar in a special mill to produce a fine powder.
There are also a range of non-white sugar products. Coffee sugar is a large grained, brown flavoursome crystal which is produced using the syrups left after extracting the white sugar crystals. Raw sugar is a straw-coloured granulated sugar produced from sucrose syrups which contain some residual colour and flavour from the sugar cane plant—it is specially selected and handled to ensure a hygienic product. Golden demerara sugar is a premium raw sugar produced from selected syrups which imparts a rich caramel taste to food. Brown sugar is a flavoursome, fine-grained and moist crystal produced by further crystallization of the extracted dark coloured sucrose syrups produced in the separation stages of the refining process.
The syrup left after white sugar has been removed is used to make golden syrup and treacle. These syrups are made in a similar fashion with the difference being that golden syrup is decolourised whereas treacle is not.
Approximately 70% of the world's sugar comes from sugar cane and about 300% comes from sugar beets. Similar processes are used to manufacture sugar products from sugar beets. However, it is a single step rather than two step process.
The beets are harvested in the autumn and early winter by digging them out of the ground. Because the beets have come from the ground they are much dirtier than sugar cane and have to be thoroughly washed and separated from any remaining beet leaves, stones and other trash material before processing. The processing starts by slicing the beets into thin strips/chips/cossettes. This process increases the surface area of the beet to make it easier to extract the sugar. The extraction takes place in a diffuser where the beet is kept in contact with hot water and the resultant sugar solution is referred to as the juice. The exhausted beet slices from the diffuser are still very wet and the water in them still holds some useful sugar so they are pressed to squeeze as much juice as possible out of them. The pressed beet, by now a pulp, is sent to drying plant where it is turned into pellets which form an important constituent of some animal feeds. The juice is then cleaned up before it can be used for sugar production and the non-sugar chemicals are removed in a process called carbonation (milk of lime (calcium hydroxide) and carbon dioxide gas). The calcium carbonate (chalk) which forms traps the non-sugar chemicals and is removed (called mud) in the clarifier. Once this is done the sugar liquor is concentrated until sugar crystals form. Once the crystals have grown the resulting mixture of crystals and mother liquor is spun in centrifuges to separate the two, rather like washing is spin dried. The crystals are then given a final dry with hot air before being packed and/or stored ready for despatch. The final sugar is white and ready for use. Because one cannot get all the sugar out of the juice, there is a sweet by-product made: beet molasses. This is usually turned into a cattle food or is sent to a fermentation plant such as a distillery where alcohol is made.
Table sugar is 99.5% sucrose, the most biologically abundant disaccharide. Saccharides are simple carbohydrates classified as monosaccharides, oligosaccharides or polysaccharides depending upon their structure. Sucrose consists of glucose and fructose bound by a α-1,2-glycoside bond and is sourced from both sugarcane and beets. As discussed above, sucrose has a GI of about 65.
One of the most difficult dietary changes faced by someone who has to change to a low GI diet is to reduce the amount of sugar which they consume. This is usually achieved by replacing the sugar with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. However, artificial sweeteners have drawbacks, including their unnatural taste.
Fructose
In an attempt to provide low GI foods, many people started using fructose as a sweetener instead of sucrose/table sugar. As mentioned above, fructose has a low GI of 23 and thus had benefits for diabetics. Fructose is readily available as corn syrup and in addition to use by diabetics it is being used in a variety of food, drink and confectionary around the world. However, there are now concerns that consumption of fructose as a sweetener has detrimental effects including                increasing the total serum cholesterol and the level of low density lipoproteins (LDL);        increases in the level of uric acid which is linked to heart disease;        increasing in the level of blood lactic acid which can lead to metabolic acidosis and death,        causing the loss of important nutrients minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc;        increasing amounts of fat production; and        reducing the affinity of insulin for its receptor so that the pancreas is actually induced to produce more insulin that it would need for the same amount of glucose.        
Energy dense and low GI foods are recommended for those at risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease. In light of these concerns, there is a need for a low GI sweetener with fewer disadvantages. Sucrose products or sweeteners with low GI index are therefore desirable. There is thus a need for sugar to have its GI reduced so that it is in the low GI range (54 or less) and more acceptable for a low GI diet.